The porticoed road of Averara is a stretch of the ancient Via Mercatorum, the most important of the ancient roads in the Brembana Valley, as it connected the city of Bergamo with the communities of the Grisons and with central Europe, before the construction of the Via Priula.
This splendid porticoed street, lined with austere 15th-century buildings, stands in the Contrada Fontana, once the centre of the town's administrative life, the place of residence of the Venetian vicar and the most important families. Averara was the capital of the municipality of the same name, which included the villages of Cusio and Santa Brigida, as well as Olmo, Mezzoldo, Cassiglio and Ornica. This explains the superior level of representation of the residential and road structures of this area, also underlined by the presence, on the inside of the pillars of the portico, of the coats of arms of the Baschenis, the Bottagisi, the Guerinoni, the Migazi, the Sonzogni and other families who played an active part in the history of the Averara Valley.
Other frescoes, such as the beautiful figure of St Anthony, decorate the interior walls, while the external façade bears the coat of arms of the Marieni family, who also played an important role in the history of Averara. Carlo Marieni was interested in literature and science and frequented the most prominent cultural figures of his time, including the poet Ugo Foscolo. Giuseppe Marieni, a Napoleonic officer, was general commander of the square of Verona in 1808, then took part in the Russian campaign and during the retreat managed to save the remains of the Napoleonic army by building a bridge over the Beresina, before dying of typhus in 1813 in Köpnick.
Outside the arcaded street, there was once a large circular fountain, documented in a 17th-century painting in the parish church, which gave its name to the district.
Italian